The Doctrines of Grace

We are now friendly to and viewable from mobile devices!

You can now browse and read DoctrinesOfGrace.ca from all types of mobile devices more comfortably.

Try it and enjoy…

In Isaiah 29:13 we have
And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips,while their hearts are far from me,and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,”

And repeated in Matt 15:8-9
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Remind you of today? Surely these are verses that could describe our times as well the times in which they were written – a people who purport to be of the Lord, yet honouring Him only in words and worldly activity. Or churches that are filled with worldly programs and concerns as first priority, rather than the fear of the Lord and the Gospel at front and center.

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, (Acts 17:29-30)

Notice that there is no time limit on this statement going forward. It is from that time forward, to the end (the return of our Lord). Unlike the things of men, God is not at our beck and call, available when we decide to call Him, or conceived in terms that would imply we somehow have input to His demands upon us. The Lord is separate and sovereign, demanding repentance from every single person, irrespective of their feeling or expectations in the matter.

Even aside from the fact that He is the sole creator, owner and sustainer of all, He gives another more explicit reason that should speak to every person.

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

Christ will judge every person. His power is demonstrated in having been raised from the dead, showing God’s absolute sovereignty. And since, as God, He is completely righteous and holy, exactly the same as the character of the Father in all aspects, that judgment can brook no compromise or excuse.

The only course of actions is clear. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ! What else can one say? The day of judgment looms, and failure to turn wholly to Him will bring the unthinkable to each one who does not. But then it will be too late.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:2)

This grace and peace is, as expressed through the Biblical context in which it is used, only available to those who belong to Jesus, the Lamb of God.

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. (Matt 28:5-6a)

Risen indeed!

Proving the power of the Christ over all of creation.
Proving that atoning for all the sins of all of the elect could not overpower Him.
Allowing me to stand before the Father blameless and cleansed.
Allowing me to be with Him forever.
Setting the stage for the coming of the Spirit upon all believers, always.
And then to return to eternal fellowship with the Father.

So much more beyond words.

In the wonderful words of an old hymn “Oh what a Saviour”.

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:16b-19)

He paid the price for my sins in those horrible hours of that day. His blood and my sins (past, present and future), nailed in agony to the cross that I deserved so richly. That I might be righteous before the Father and with Jesus in paradise for eternity.

Both the suffering and the result are truly beyond comprehension. Yet it was done within the plan of the Father, executed by evil and eternally condemned men. And all for the Glory of God in the redemption of the redeemed who were given to Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4).

What overwhelming sadness and joy combined.

Thank you, Lord. And come, Jesus, come…

Soli Deo Gloria!

Some time ago I reviewed Prof. Horner’s somewhat unique Bible reading program. In brief, it involves reading one chapter from each of 10 lists of bible books each day. So you read 10 chapter per day. The 10 lists of books is a division of the 66 book of the Bible along roughly genre and subject lines (eg. Pentateuch, gospels, psalms, etc.). When reaching the end of a list, one simply starts that list again. The lists are of different lengths so that chapters read are always juxtaposed differently in subsequent readings. The original post and description is here.

After 110 days (1100 chapters – equivalent to the entire Bible), I am in complete agreement with Prof. Horner when he says that it will change your life.

What do I mean by that?

First, the amount of Scripture you are reading. Most people who hear of the system think that reading this amount daily is overwhelming. Having used other reading plans I certainly thought this before starting. However, the system of reading multiple books seems to completely remove this problem. He states that you will not consider it a lot after a month, and after 3 months you marvel at how you read less before. Right on both counts. I was starving for more and didn’t know it, irrespective of other types of ongoing Scriptural and theology study.

Next, he states that it will change you. Right again. You simply can not be immersed to this degree in Scripture without it unconsciously being assimilated into all other areas of your life. In his book Knowing God, A. Pink states that one of the most important activities for the Christian is being ’soaked’ in Scripture.  This methodology accomplishes that, seemingly with effort.

Next, you will wonder how you ever read less of the Bible daily. Right yet again. Once established as habit you ‘can not’ comfortably do less. If fact, it seems like you should do more. The increased volume feeds an incresed hunger.

Next, you quietly develop contextualized cross-referencing that is amazing. Your memory increases and the combination of Old and New Testaments makes the entire Bible come alive. This is truly wonderful.

What about so many threads or stories happening at once? Can you keep track? I wondered about that, but it has proven to be a non-issue. About 50% of the books, such as Wisdom literature and most Psalms, have relatively independent chapters, so ongoing story context is not a problem. For the others, I simply scan the last paragraph of the previous day’s chapter before starting the new one. It takes about 20 seconds and I then continue with the thread refreshed in my mind for the next piece. As I said, a non-issue.

All this is to say that so far the system is all that is claimed and more. As Professor Horner suggests, give it a try for a month and see. You may be surprised and you have so much to gain.

A mentioned in my previous post on the program, I am tweeting a few verses that strike me in the course of each days readings. They are posted in the blog sidebar and at http://twitter.com/DoctrinesOGrace.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Finally, with all the peripheral groups dealt with, we come to the reason for this set to posts and the real question at hand.

2. The unbeliever actively praying.

Worldly sense would say that this person is actively ingratiating themselves to God by this act of supplication. You could say “Surely this brings blessing to this person?”.

First, their status before a Righteous and Holy God. As with all human beings (past, present and future), this unregenerate person is in open rebellion against God in two ways: 1. by not acknowledging Him as God, creator and sustainer of all that is (see Rom 3:20 below) , and not worshiping Him accordingly: and 2. by not believing in His son as their sole saviour. Their failure is this regard results is their being wicked, as in our verse from the previous post

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,  (Prov 15:3a)

Or even more pointed

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; (Prov 21:27a)

Notice that their are no caveats or exceptions. The wicked are always an abomination to the Lord. That means that their state makes everything they do an abomination to Him. Outside of salvation in Christ, can anyone be righteous in anything before God? No, not one (Rom 3:10b).

So, we have a person who is in active rebellion against what his Creator requires of him, who actively denies that Creator’s sovereignty and Son, approaching God in a way that He has reserved for believers.

Let us think back in the Old Testament to Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron (Lev 10:1-2). What happened to them when they inappropriately performed what the Lord specified. Right! – the Lord put them to death. So, the Lord clearly takes a very dim view of those who approach Him inappropriate and with the wrong attitude of submission and worship.

Since, as mentioned above, the unregenerate person is inherently and completely tainted by sin, all that they do is similarly tainted and can not please God. Their rebellion is reflected in the essence of who they are and thus in everything that they do. Moreover, their execution of actions that are reserved for believers, who are pleasing to God, is an even greater affront to the Lord.

If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. (Prov 28:9)

In conclusion -> This individual is putting themselves at further enmity with God by performing this act of supposed worship – digging the hole deeper, so to speak. They are incapable of acceptable worship or supplication in their spiritual condition and their attempt to approach God is an affront.

Unpleasant though it sounds, this is the biblical message, and it glorifies God by demonstrating His absolute, unwavering righteousness and justice.

Every unbeliever is called by all of creation around them to acknowledge the sole and total sovereignty of God. There are no exceptions.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Rom 1:20)

They are further called to repent of their worldly self and turn to His only son Jesus Christ.

Only then are their worship and supplications acceptable to God – becoming a living sacrifice and a pleasant aroma to the Lord (Num 15:13).

For the Glory of God alone.